Snow Patrol to play Bushmills Distillery

Snow Patrol will perform at one of their most unusual venues this summer - the 400-year-old Bushmills Distillery.

Ireland’s oldest distiller, Bushmills, has announced it is to host the acclaimed chart-toppers at a gig with a difference in June.

The concert will be staged among the barrels and stills at the award-winning, handcrafted tipple’s north Antrim home on Northern Ireland’s spectacular Causeway Coast.

Snow Patrol are the headline act for the inaugural Bushmills Live festival at the distillery. The two-day event will also see performances from musicians and songwriters Foy Vance and Iain Archer.

Snow Patrol’s Jonny Quinn, a fan of Bushmills, said he was excited at the prospect. “Playing live on a bill of great artists and friends, in the Old Bushmills Distillery that’s been around for centuries - it doesn’t get much better than that,” he said.

Unlike most festivals, tickets are not going on general sale. Music fans will instead be offered the chance to win their place in the crowd on June 20 and 21 by visiting the distiller’s Facebook page, posting a photo of them and a friend and explaining why they should be there.

As well as joining the audience, winners will also have the opportunity to make their own blend of whiskey. Bushmills master distiller Colum Egan said he was particularly pleased the artists announced to date were partial to his handcrafted whiskey.

“The line-up for Bushmills Live so far is truly remarkable,” he said. “Snow Patrol, Foy Vance and Iain Archer are known and loved around the world - much like our whiskey.

“What excites me is they, like all the artists who are coming to play, are fans of our whiskey. Bushmills and music have always gone well together. Handcrafted whiskey and handcrafted music - it just makes sense.”

To win tickets to Bushmills Live or to find out more, visit facebook.com/bushmills1608.

Entry opens at 1608 on St Patrick’s Day, March 17, and closes at 2359 on April 27.